Federer left watching his back despite end to spat

ROGER FEDERER knows that the best part of a French crowd of 27,000 will hope that his back problem resurfaces.

Switzerland's Roger Federer, left, listens to compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka during the Davis Cup final draw in Lille, northern France, Thursday, Nov.20, 2014. Despite his bad back, Roger Federer will face Gael Monfils on Friday in the second singles match when Switzerland faces France in the Davis Cup final. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

ROGER FEDERER knows that the best part of a French crowd of 27,000 will hope that his back problem resurfaces. The world No 2 has declared himself fit for the start of a Davis Cup final brimming with emotion and subplots.

The Swiss totem craves the trophy to add to the 17 grand slam singles crowns and the Olympic gold medal he shared with Stanislas Wawrinka in 2008. However, his preparation for Lille has been plagued by back spasms, a heckling row and his withdrawal from the title match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London last weekend.

He trained gingerly on Wednesday but slightly better yesterday. Certainly, he made himself available and the draw put him up against Gael Monfils, one of the sport’s more erratic souls, in tonight’s (AEDT) singles. That match will come after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga takes on Wawrinka, who was heckled by Federer’s wife Mirka during their match in London on Saturday.

The spat has been dismissed, but the back problem lingers. It seemed to be ushering Federer towards retirement in 2013 until he found a cure, a revival and, in January, a new coach in Stefan Edberg. Federer will also play Tsonga in the reverse singles on Sunday.

Ideally, he would partner Wawrinka in tomorrow’s doubles, but the Swiss have named the lowly ranked duo of Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer to face Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau. Should the massages and painkillers pay off, Federer could still play a third match alongside Wawrinka.

To add to the drama, a huge, partisan crowd will be watching in a converted football stadium. All the sessions sold out quickly. France have nine Davis Cup victories but none since 2001; Switzerland have never won one.

“We’ll see tomorrow how it goes, but I practised well today,” Federer said. “If there was a risk it would impact the rest of my life, obviously I would not play, but I have had similar problems in the past and I can draw from that.”

Wawrinka confessed that it had been a trying week for him too, squandering match points against Federer on Saturday before the heckling sideshow became global news.

“Clearly on Saturday night I was destroyed,” he said. “It was difficult to accept that loss. I did everything I could to win that match. Sunday was also a difficult day. I was hurt.”

The match with Monfils should be entertaining. The world No 19 indulged in a spot of on-court breakdancing at the French Open, then squandered a two-set lead and two match points against Federer in the US Open quarter-finals. The match will be played on clay and the entire tennis world is waiting to find out whether Federer now has feet fashioned from the same stuff.

The Times